We got a ride from James back to the trail this morning. Rose and I decided to walk on the train tracks for the first stretch to save about 5 miles and lots of PUDs (pointless ups and downs). The walking was easy, but I guess the shade from the tracks in the morning is a favorite of the local snakes because we came upon two rattlers. Yeesh! The trail turned north and we forded the Gila River before taking a break in the shade provided by the riparian zone. The river water was full of silt and hard to filter, but we made it work. Then we came upon a family of trepidatious cows and bulls trying to get a drink too. Finally, we headed out of the river bed and into the low mountain range north of the river. Right away, we realized how hot the climb would be at this time of day, and that we should have been patient and carried more water. We hiked over a saddle to some spectacular canyon views, but still had a few miles to go before the next available water. We finally got there, too thirsty for comfort, and luckily there was a good campsite right by the water so we could rehydrate all night.